


as long as we stay together

by umbreongay



Series: The Jedi and the Prince [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Friendship, Just Jedi being pals, Obi-Wan Kenobi Gets a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan's Birthday, just a good time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27731863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umbreongay/pseuds/umbreongay
Summary: It's 20 BBY, and as Anakin and Ahsoka find out, it's Obi-Wan's 37th Birthday. The Jedi Knight, however, is grumpy when they confront him about that and would rather go about his day and his duties as a Jedi and general.Anakin and Ahsoka try to find a way to surprise him. They're a family, after all.(this is mostly written for me to deal with my Clone Wars feelings)[Prequel One-Shot in the "The Jedi and The Prince" series; can be read on it's own though]
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: The Jedi and the Prince [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989322
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	as long as we stay together

**Author's Note:**

> this little short story is sort of a prequel to my main fanfiction "Hope and Fear" which focuses on Obi-Wan and Aerrend (Senator Organa's aide, who is held hostage by bounty hunters). this story can be read on it's own though, but I hope it'll make you interested in reading the main work in this series!

**20 BBY, Coruscant, Jedi Temple**  
Anakin had been looking through the archives for about an hour now, and had become slightly bored by the task at hand. Something about crystals on a system too far away to really matter. _They aren’t kyber crystals, so I don’t really care_. He closed all the files he had open on the datapad and almost tossed it aside, when his eye fell upon a notification on the archive’s dashboard page on the screen. “Today, 34 years ago: Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi reaches the age of 13, and celebrates with his newly assigned Jedi Master Qui-Gon” it read. Underneath it there was a picture of Obi-Wan as a young boy next to his smiling Master Qui-Gon, a man Anakin had fond memories of himself.   
_Interesting_ , he thought, _so it’s his birthday_. Obi-Wan had never told Anakin when his birthday was and Anakin had never asked before. Maybe he should have done so, considering Obi-Wan was the closest thing he had to an older brother. Well, at least if you discounted his step-brother.   
He made his way over to Ahsoka, who was still studying what she was supposed to study, and showed her the datapad.   
“What is it, Skyguy? I’m focusing on this boring work right now,” his padawan said. Still, she looked away from her datapad.   
“Then unfocus, this is more important,” Anakin spoke too loudly, earning him a shush from Jocasta Nu. He raised his hands as an apology. “Sorry,” he whispered.   
Ahsoka studied the datapad. “Obi-Wan trivia?” she asked, “How is that more important?”   
“Just connect the dots, Snips,” Anakin said, “It’s his birthday. Today.”   
Realisation dawned on the young girl’s face. “Oooh,” she said. Another shush. “I didn’t know that!”   
“Well, neither did I,” Anakin admitted, “Let’s do something about this. Make him celebrate. Bake him cake.”   
“Bake him cake?” Ahsoka asked, “I don’t think how either of us would manage that.”   
“We can try,” Anakin said, “Let’s just talk to him first!” 

~  
Obi-Wan went about his day. War. Duties of a general. Talk to republic officials. Talk to the troopers. Meditate. Be in touch with the force. Not acknowledge his birthday.   
Senator Organa had called him on his commlink earlier, speaking of urgent business he needed help with. Obi-Wan was getting ready to go over to his office, and if he took his time on the way back, he could avoid his birthday or someone acknowledging it.   
He didn’t mind his birthday, he didn’t mind ageing. He felt like he did the latter quite gracefully, and at least his hair wasn’t going grey the way his Master’s did when he had turned forty. Thirty-seven wasn’t a big number to Obi-Wan. Just a reminder of how long he had done this. The reason he disliked his birthday also wasn’t because he disliked the attention. Every once in a while he liked attention. Some attention, like flirting, could be fun, if he felt like it.   
No, the real reason why he avoided his birthday was the fact that it was clouded in sadness. The only real celebration was with Qui-Gon on his 13th birthday. In the Jedi-Order there’s the tradition of celebrating when a Padawan turns thirteen, therefore that birthday was the only one where Obi-Wan felt like he was celebrating with a family. Someone like a father. He had been taken to the Jedi Order when he was three, barely knowing his “real” family. Then he had his fellow padawans, and finally, he had his Master. When he turned thirteen, he and Qui-Gon were only beginning to be Master and Apprentice. He was still a bit wide-eyed about the whole thing, and hadn’t yet known the difficult years ahead. He and Qui-Gon were out of sync for the first four years of their partnership, until their Mission to Pijal, where their bond had raptured only to regrow stronger.   
Losing Qui-Gon on Naboo 8 years later was painful. They had started to be a real team. Often, Obi-Wan had imagined himself as a Jedi Knight fighting alongside his Master. On his 13th birthday, they had talked about the ceremony one has to go through to become a Knight. Once Qui-Gon had died, it had become a quick affair instead, right there on Naboo. The conversations they had on his birthday were still fresh in his mind then and they remained so until now. His birthday, thus, had become a day to mourn those dreams instead of a time for celebration.   
Obi-Wan was startled by a knock on his door. He had turned inward, paying no attention to who was coming toward him. Now he felt it. Anakin. “Come in,” he said. 

~

“You’re what?” Obi-Wan asked. His expression had turned sour.   
“We thought it would be a good idea to celebrate,” Anakin said, “So we’re inviting you out.”   
Ahsoka could tell that Obi-Wan didn’t really like this idea. It didn’t take a deep force connection to read his expression. Yet Anakin still seemed oblivious.   
“I’m not going to celebrate, Anakin,” Obi-Wan answered coolly, “I have better things to do than celebrate something meaningless.”   
“But,” Anakin began, “Master-.” Obi-Wan pushed past him. “If you’ll excuse me now, I have an appointment with a senator.”   
The Jedi Master left his room, taking the bad mood with him.  
“That went well, Master,” Ahsoka said. “Why would he react like this?” Anakin asked, “We just want him to have a nice time.”   
“Maybe Obi-Wan’s just too busy,” Ahsoka said. “He’s like an older brother to me, Ahsoka, we’ll have to figure out to let him have a nice day.”   
Ahsoka sighed. “Should we bake the cake then?” she asked.   
“Good idea, snips,” Anakin said. 

~

“Excuse me, sir, but I’m afraid you’re not following the recipe,” the kitchen droid said as Anakin did everything wrong.   
“Oh, shut it,” Anakin said, “I’m just doing it more efficiently.”   
Ahsoka looked over at her Master bickering with the droid. She smiled to herself. Of course he was doing it all wrong, but that’s what made him Anakin. He’d still find a way around it and come up with something. “Sir,” the droid spoke on, “The eggs are meant to be handled with care.”   
“Well, I need to crack them either way, don’t I? Ahsoka, how’s the cream going?” Anakin asked. Ahsoka looked down on the counter, which was covered in bantha milk. “It’s not working,” she responded. “Well, try harder!”   
“Try it yourself, skyguy,” she shot back. “Oh, come on, Ahsoka, I’m doing the difficult part,” Anakin said. “Sir, I could just do the job for you,” the droid murmured. 

~

Obi-Wan was settled into the chair opposite Senator Organa’s desk. The Senator was pacing up and down. “The pilots have returned to Alderaan, with the ship, with most of their cargo, but my new aide is missing,” Bail said, “They say bounty hunters have surprised them at one of their refuel stops, blasted through the ship, and then just taken him with them.”   
“Do they know anything of the bounty hunters?” Obi-Wan asked, “Any hint as to where we could find them?”   
Bail shook his head. “No,” he said, “The security footage for the fuel station and for the ship has been deleted, there were no astromechs on board. So there’s no memory of them.”   
“It looks like a targeted situation,” Obi-Wan called, “They have only taken your new aide, but not the pilots. Nor the ship or its cargo.”  
“So they will contact me?” Senator Organa asked, “This is a hostage situation.”   
“I suppose it is, Senator,” Obi-Wan, “It’s either that, or he’s dead. But I suppose they’ll contact you or her Majesty soon.”   
“And then I will pay them,” the senator pondered. Obi-Wan shook his head. “Contact me when they do,” Obi-Wan said, “Afterwards I’ll take it to the Council.”  
“Thank you, Master Kenobi,” Bail said, “You’re a great help. That boy is like a younger brother to me. If anything happened to him, especially on my calling, I would not be able to live with it.”   
Obi-Wan thought about Bail’s words as he made his way back to the temple. Maybe he had been too harsh with Anakin and Ahsoka. After all, they were like younger siblings to him too. Sure, they could never replace Qui-Gon, but it wouldn’t be of any use to push them away. Maybe he should be glad that he and Anakin lived to see each other as equals. That they lived to be Jedi Knights together. And now it was their turn to look forward to a bright future when Ahsoka would be their equal too. In many ways, she already was. But seeing her grow into the Jedi Knight she was destined to be might just be something hopeful to put his focus on. 

~

When he returned to the temple, the force told him to look for Anakin and Ahsoka in the garden. They’d be waiting for him there. He followed the force’s guidance.   
Anakin and Ahsoka were sitting on the floor, they looked like they’d been in a food fight with each other, and there was something awful sitting between them. It looked like… cake?   
_Oh force no_ , Obi-Wan thought.   
“Hello there,” he said. Anakin and Ahsoka were looking up at him. “Hey, Obi-Wan,” they said almost at the same time.   
“I’m sorry about earlier,” Obi-Wan said, “I was a bit harsh.”  
“That’s an understatement,” Anakin muttered.   
“Happy Birthday,” Ahsoka said. Obi-Wan gave her a short smile. “You know, I don’t really like my birthday all that much, because it reminds me of my Master. Now that he’s no longer with us, it makes me sad to think of the dreams I had, of one day being his equal and fighting side by side with him. But something Senator Organa said earlier made sense to me. The two of you are as much my family as Qui-Gon was. So now we can look forward to one day fighting side by side as equals.”   
“We’ll be fine, as long as we stay together,” Ahsoka said, echoing the words Obi-Wan had said to them on Mortis.   
“Exactly,” Obi-Wan answered, “Now don’t tell me you want me to eat that cake.”   
Ahsoka and Anakin looked at each other. They grinned. “As we practiced,” Anakin said. They jumped to their feet, leaving Obi-Wan to wonder what they were up to. Then, something surprising happened. Anakin wrapped his arms around his former master and pulled him into a hug. Ahsoka quickly joined him and held on to the two of them. Obi-Wan struggled at first, but then decided to let it happen. To lean into it. Some of his sadness subdued, a bit remained, but he realised that he was fine. With Ahsoka and Anakin by his side, nothing could go wrong. Or, well, everything could, but in the right way.   
_As long as we’re together, we’ll be fine._

~

Later that night, his commlink beeped. It was a message from Senator Organa.   
“General Kenobi,” he spoke, “I’ve received a message from the bounty hunters. They’re holding him on Jakku.”   
_Jakku? The junkyard in the Inner Rim?_  
“Don’t worry, Senator,” the Jedi responded, “I’ll take care of it.”


End file.
